Labor Day, the beginning of the academic year, and the liturgical calendar (September 8) merge in drawing Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam to my mind at the beginning of September.
Vincentian Family
A Vincentian View: The Spes Gregis
The “spes gregis” was one of the earliest terms that I heard applied to my classmates and me when we entered the high school seminary.
A Vincentian View: “Coming Down the Mountain”
A Scripture passage that frequently captures my Vincentian heart is that of the Transfiguration.
Unrecognized Experts
People experiencing poverty have an expertise that can not be taught in a classroom. They know their situation from the inside. They understand many dimensions of poverty that may not occur to us.
A Vincentian View: Mary’s Lessons on Joseph
Mary knew Joseph. As we are attentive to her, we learn about the one who stood beside her for much of her life.
Wide-angle View of the Vincentian Family
We are people with a mission…to do what Jesus did. Pople who use the skills of their profession in frontline “field hospitals” or mobilize those who are committed to “seeking long-term solutions.”
A Vincentian View: Yearning for Home (Joseph and Psalm 137)
The Babylonians destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem in 587 BC and took most of the people of Israel into captivity—moving them from their ancestral home to foreign lands. Psalm 137 engages the feelings of those displaced persons.
A Vincentian View: Joseph and Psalm 19 (Pleasure in Law)
Psalm 19 points in a similar direction and enables us to continue to reflect on Joseph as a just man in relation to the law of his people.
A Vincentian View: Joseph and Psalm 1
Do you want to hear Joseph pray? You might begin with Psalm 1.
A Vincentian View: The Grace of Graces
“We need only ask Saint Joseph for the grace of graces: our conversion” (PC p. 9).
A Vincentian View: The Fiat of St. Joseph
“In every situation, Joseph declared his own “fiat,” like those of Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.”
A Vincentian View: Dreamers
Joseph, Vincent and Louise, Francis, and many others invite us to think about what is possible as we open our eyes to God’s grace for a different and better world.
